Jay woke the next morning to someone shaking him, opening his eyes to stare up at Dongju who looked down at him in concern.

"You okay?" Asked Dongju as he moved away when Jay sat up. "You never just sleep in the livingroom," he explained.

"Keonhee was sleeping on my bed and I couldn't be bothered to wake him to get him to move over," explained Jay as he shrugged. "It's okay, I was comfortable though," he added. "I don't mind sleeping on the couch sometimes," he explained.

"Both my brother and Yunho were called out for something important, so it's just us three for a while, if Keonhee decides to stay around," stated Dongju as he walked into the kitchen with Jay following after him after folding up his blanket and setting it on top of the pillow he had been using.

"Right," sighed Jay as he shook his head. "Looks like we'll be making our own meals from this point," he hummed, going through the fridge to see what he could make for breakfast.

"You know how to cook?" Asked Dongju as he went to get an apple that was sitting in the basket of fruits by the stove.

"I know a little bit," responded Jay as he grabbed what he needed and went to put it on the counter. "I had to learn to cook some things other than ramyeon back when I was in Korea because not everyone could cook, and I had the luxury of cooking most of the meals," he added.

"You didn't cook all the time right?" Asked Dongju as Jay prepared breakfast.

"No," replied Jay as he went to grab a pan and put it on the stove, turning on the burner to let the pan heat up. "Sometimes it was Heeseung, or Taehyun when he came over, but most of the time it was either me or Niki," he explained. "It was either one of us when we didn't have anything to do the next day, so it wasn't too often," he added.

"Who cooked the other days then?" Asked Dongju as Keonhee stumbled into the kitchen after waking up, yawning as he covered his mouth before going to sit down at the kitchen island. "Also morning Sleeping Beauty," he added with a snicker.

"It's too early," groaned Keonhee as he laid his head on the kitchen island.

"Mostly Heeseung, sometimes Jungwon, when he wasn't trying anything exotic," explained Jay as he threw the ingredients together for an omelet before pouring the egg mixture into the pan. "Also it's 10 am, this is early?" He asked, chuckling at Keonhee's grumbling.

"I should get going after breakfast," sighed Keonhee as he lifted his head up to watch as Jay put the first finished omelet on the kitchen island for Dongju to grab and start eating. "My roommate is moving out all of the sudden so I need to get back and help him out," he explained. "I forgot about that completely, but something urgent came up at home and he needed to move back," he explained.

"Do you think you'll need help?" Asked Jay as he got the next omelet onto a plate, passing it over to Keonhee before starting on the last one, keeping an eye on the egg while looking to be deep in thought.

"I think we got it," responded Keonhee as he ate his omelet, chewing thoughtfully as he eyed the red numbers on his wrist. He quickly switched which hands he was eating with, keeping the bottom of his wrist on the kitchen island and ignoring the questioning look he got from Dongju.

Jay turned to the kitchen island after getting his plate and turning off the stove, putting the pan in the sink before going to put his plate down and start eating. "Okay," hummed Jay as he ate his omelet.
 

~

Keonhee had to leave after getting changed and making sure his timer was covered up by his leather bracelet. "I'll see you around then!" Keonhee called in goodbye before he backed out of the driveway and drove off, heading back to his apartment.

Jay watched him go from the front door, waving as Keonhee drove off before closing the door and turning to Dongju who was sitting on the couch watching tv.

"Something about him seems very familiar to me," remarked Dongju as Jay went to sit down in the loveseat. "I don't know, it could be that weird feeling us reincarnated folks get when we're around people who have lost their soulmate," he mused, looking thoughtful.

"Beomgyu explained it to me once," chimed in Jay as he looked at his phone to look through his emails. "Everytime he's around someone who feels really familiar to him his heart starts beating weirdly or something," he explained. "When he's around people who lost their soulmates he feels an overwhelming feeling of sadness," he added. "Like his chest feels constricted or whatever," he explained as an afterthought. "Which feeling do you have?" He asked, turning to Dongju who looked thoughtful.

"A bit of both?" Asked Dongju as he tried to put it into words. "Like I should know him from somewhere, but I don't really know him, you know?" He asked. "But I get where the feeling of sadness comes from, I felt the need to just try and cheer him up," he added. "I think he was okay with it though, considering I nearly talked his ears off and he seemed okay with that," he added, chuckling at that before turning serious as he looked thoughtful.

"Maybe you two knew each other in another life?" Asked Jay. "It's certainly possible," he added. "Considering the way reincarnation works anyway," he explained. "From what I know when you find your soulmates and die you get reincarnated with a new soulmate mark," he added. "It's very weird like that though," he hummed, blinking when his phone pinged. He checked what he was being messaged about before getting up and going to get his tablet. He came back with thousands of messages from Sunghoon, looking increasingly worried for his friend as he read through them.

"What's wrong?" Asked Dongju as he took in Jay's expressions.

"Sunghoon is in the hospital," mumbled Jay as he finished reading through the messages. "I wasn't even looking at my tablet until now, I-," he whispered, closing his eyes.

"Are you going to be okay?" Asked Dongju.

"I don't know," mumbled Jay. "But I think I want to make a trip back to Korea for a little bit," he explained with a sigh.

"I'll go with you," demanded Dongju. "You don't need to go alone for this," he added. "Do you have the money to even go back?" He asked.

"I can ask Arthur," replied Jay as he went to make a phone call. "He knows how much my friends in Korea mean to me," he explained, speaking with Arthur when he picked up the phone, getting up and going into the kitchen to talk with him.
 

~

Jay found himself sitting in first class on a plane bound for Korea, Dongju sitting next to him as he fidgeted in his seat. Seoho would be getting them from the airport when they landed, so all they had to do now was wait. He had asked Yunho and Dongmyeong to pass on a message to their professors and Keonhee when they got back so that Jay and Dongju wouldn't be falling behind in their classes and becoming friends with Keonhee. That last part was more on Jay's conscience due to how friendly Keonhee had been.

"I don't know if you're okay," remarked Dongju as he watched Jay carefully.

"I'll be fine," mumbled Jay. "I want to be there for Sunghoon, even if I won't be able to do very much," he explained. "I don't want to lose someone else," he sighed, closing his eyes in a small grimace. "I know I don't talk about the friends I made back in Korea, but Sunghoon is someone important," he explained.

"I get it, I think," hummed Dongju as he reached over and patted Jay on the knee. "I wouldn't want to be separated from my friends either, especially during times like this," he added, moving his arm back and staring straight ahead in thought.
 

~

When they landed in Incheon Seoho was waiting there at the gates, dressed in his guard clothes due to Jahan using his influence to let Seoho get through security to Dongju and Jay out of there as quickly as possible. Seoho didn't carry his sword, but he was keeping his sword wielding hand to his side like he was out of habit.

"Seoho," greeted Jay as he entered the terminal, Dongju right behind him with a curious look on his face as he looked around the airport.

"Jay," greeted Seoho, his voice flat and expressionless. "Dongju," he added, nodding to Dongju who bowed in respect before straightening.

"How is he?" Asked Jay as he walked beside Seoho on his left while Dongju followed alongside them on Seoho's right.

"Not much info I can give you now," responded Seoho as he shook his head. "He's recovering, but Jungwon's not doing so hot either," he explained. "It's a mess, I tell you," he added.

"What caused this in the first place?" Asked Jay as they left the airport after getting their bags from baggage claim.

"A fight apparently," sighed Seoho as he led them to the car, Jay getting in to the passenger seat while Dongju got into the back. Seoho got into the driver's seat and started the car, making sure it was clear before backing out and starting the drive back to Seoul. "I'm not even sure what had even caused the fight in the first place, but Jungwon's beating himself up over it, so go easy on him," he explained.

"If I didn't know Jungwon as well as I do, I would've punched him until he was black and blue," mumbled Jay as he looked out the window. "This wasn't entirely his fault I'm sure," he explained. "Something in Sunghoon snapped, and caused this," he added with a sigh.